Barcelona vs. Villarreal: 6 Things We Learned

Barcelona returned to winning ways in La Liga on Saturday evening with a convincing 2-1 win against Villarreal at Camp Nou.

Tata Martino's side went into the game with the knowledge that they needed a victory to maintain some breathing space ahead of Atletico Madrid at the top of the table.

Neymar stole the show with a brace for the home side, just days after scoring a hat-trick in the Champions League against Celtic. Barcelona could have scored more, but the Yellow Submarine were no pushovers, demonstrating why their defence is third best in the league.

The widespread view is that the Brazilian international went looking for the yellow card in order to have a clean slate for Barca's important game against Atletico de Madrid on 12th January and bring forward his Christmas holidays.

Villarreal Are No Pushovers

Just one year after spending a season in the Spanish second division, Marcelino's side have shot up the table, where they currently occupy the 50th spot.

What they lacked in attack against Barcelona, they made up for in defence. Goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo and centre-back Mateo Musacchio turned in excellent displays.

Villarreal's back four of Mario, Musacchio, Chechu Dorado and Jaume Costa proved difficult to break down, and Neymar's penalty was the only difference between the sides in the first half.

As reported on WhoScored.com, Barcelona enjoyed 76 percent of possession throughout the game and had 13 shots on goal (seven on target). Were it not for the impressive efforts of Asenjo in goal, the damage would have been a lot worse.

Villarreal have the third-best defensive record in La Liga and will continue to needle the league's top teams. After taking points from both Madrid and Atletico Madrid, they cannot be underestimated, despite coming away from Camp Nou with nothing.

Bruno and Cani Were Missed by Their Side

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Villarreal were without influential midfielders Bruno Soriano and Cani in Saturday's game.

The pair—missing through injury and suspension, respectively—has started every game for the Yellow Submarine this term and has been crucial in the side's impressive performances during the 2013/14 season.

Without Bruno and Cani, the visitors suffered from a lack of physical presence in the center of the park . As a result, manager Marcelino Garcia Toral went on the defensive with a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Giovani dos Santos alone in attack.

He was Villarreal's brightest attacking prospect, yet he suffered from lack of support, was easily dispossessed and received little time on the ball.

Bruno will return from suspension for Villarreal in next week's tie against Sevilla at El Madrigal.

Fabregas as False 9?

With Messi absent through injury and Cesc Fabregas missing through suspension, Tata Martino fielded Neymar as a false nine against Celtic in the Champions League this week.

Six goals followed—including a sumptuous hat-trick from the Brazilian—and it seemed like Barcelona had found a fitting way to cope without the injured Argentine.

Which makes Martino's decision to field Fabregas as his false nine against Villarreal all the more confusing. Most casual observers would imagine that Neymar had done enough to call the role his own—for a few days, at least.

Fabregas tops La Liga's assist charts and has weighed in with five goals this season. He is a talented player, yet his best position is in midfield.

The home side got the win, and Neymar still scored two goals, yet you have to wonder if Barca could have been deadlier in front of goal, had Martino stuck with Wednesday's intoxicating formula.